Save the Date: Motorola Nexus 6 and HTC Nexus 9 to be announced on October 15

Thank goodness October is here! Google’s rumored Nexus 6 has been leaked in photos, benchmarks, and “whispers” across the Web for some time now. The search engine giant decided to shake things up this year, bypassing a new Nexus 7 (2014) unveil to place its focus on a different market – one that prefers larger devices, such as a certain 8.9-inch device, over the 7-inch form factor. More about that below.

We’re thrilled that Google’s confirmed October 15 as its launch date for what is shaping up to be the next Nexus smartphone (Motorola Nexus 6) and tablet (HTC Nexus 9).

We know pretty much all there is to know about the Nexus 6 device (codenamed “Shamu”) at this point, seeing that Google’s teamed up with Motorola to manufacture the handset. If you’re a Google fan who just can’t get enough of Mountain View, prepare to feast your eyes on the Nexus 6: a 5.9-inch handset with a Quad HD screen resolution (2392 x 1400p, with 496ppi, from our sources) that comes with a 13MP back camera and 2MP front camera, a 2.65Ghz, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor with Adreno 420 GPU graphics, 3GB of RAM, as well as the usual 16/32GB memory storage configurations.

The Nexus 6 will be powered by a 3,200mAh battery, which should make Google fans cheer. It seems that Google’s awakened to the idea that more battery is better: finally, a device that doesn’t have a 2,000mAh or so battery. It’s likely that Google decided to go bigger in every way with the Nexus 6, since the 5.9-inch “beast” mandates a beastly battery.

The Nexus 6 will be manufactured by Motorola, known for its fashionable and durable devices (as confirmed by some recent bendgate torture tests), but will come with Google’s upcoming Android L update. Android L is scheduled to land in Android land with the upcoming Nexus 6 and HTC Nexus 9, and our sources have confirmed that “Android L” will be called “Android 5.0 Lollipop” when it arrives.

If you’ve already had your fill of phablet smartphones, Google’s got a Nexus 9 tablet in store for you.

We’ve already seen the HTC Nexus 9 receive US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) certification as well as Taiwanese certification (NCC), so HTC and Google have already taken steps to prepare the tablet for the October 15 announcement.

The Nvidia Tegra K1 processor will prove to be one powerful processor indeed, having achieved a score of over 45,923 points at AnTuTu when tested some weeks ago.

One discussion surrounding both the HTC Nexus 9 and the Motorola Nexus 6 concerns Google’s pricing scheme: will it increase this year? The answer is “likely.” In fact, we’d say that there’s a high probability that Google fans will pay more this year. When you consider the increase in Google’s back camera on the Nexus 6, the larger battery, and the design quality talents of both HTC and Motorola with the two devices, it’s obvious that premium devices will bear a larger price tag.

With that said, however, we could only speculate about the price tag. There’s been no word on this front yet, which means that all of the so-called expensive price tag rumors may be just that. At the same time, HTC’s been readying a keyboard to accompany its tablet out of the gate, so prepare to accessorize your gadget.

Both the Motorola Nexus 6 and HTC Nexus 9 will be announced on Google’s big day. We’ve also heard rumors that split-screen multitasking capabilities could make their way into Android L, and we’ll stay on the lookout to bring you more as details surface.

Are you excited about the arrival of the Nexus 6 and/or Nexus 9? Which device do you plan to buy? Do you think that Google went “too big” with the Motorola Nexus 6 this year? If you have something to say, let us know.